Dreams of Eden (Ace of Queens # 4)

CH.24 Under the stars

Chapter 24

When Eden got home that night from training, her phone had to be switched off.

Alec had been calling her nonstop to apologize for his behavior but Eden wanted to hear none of it. Jackson looked over at her in the passenger seat as she stared down at her phone, waiting for it to stop ringing.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah," Eden sighed.

She powered her phone off and looked over at her dad.

"Dad, do you think my head is always in the cloud?"

"In what sense?"

"Like, do you think I am not in tune with reality?"

Jackson lifted his shoulders as he tried to answer his daughter's questions.

"Don't lie to me," Eden laughed.

"I think sometimes you can be a little.....spacey," Jackson said slowly as if he were in trouble.

"Spacey?" Eden laughed louder.

"You see the good in people," Jackson pointed out. "You sometimes forget that people have ill intent.....people can lie and deceive...... they can make us think they care about us."

Eden looked away as she caught onto who he was talking about. She fiddled with her phone as Jackson flickered his eyes to her.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing," Eden shook her head before signing. "I just..... I feel lost."

"About?"

"Life...." Eden shrugged.

Jackson nodded as he left Eden to her own thoughts. He reached over and patted her cheek to reassure her that he would always be there.

"Dad?"

"Yes?" Jackson slowly pulled into their driveway.

"Do you think that sometimes we meet the right people at the wrong time?"

Jackson killed the engine as he looked over at his daughter, "Yes, I think sometimes we do."

"And what about love?" Eden lifted her gaze. "Do you think we fall in love with the right people at the wrong time?"

"No," Jackson sighed. "When you fall in love with the right person, the timing is never wrong. Love is timeless."

Eden smiled slowly at her father's words. She leaned her head back against the seat and sighed.

"If you love something," Jackson said as he patted his daughter's hand.

"Let it go," Eden continued for him.

"If it comes back?"

"It was meant to be," Eden smiled.

For the rest of the evening, Eden stayed with Rose and Jackson to avoid the empty hole in her heart. She didn't want to be left alone for even a second in fear that she might start spiraling down a rabbit hole she couldn't climb out of.

Just before dinner, Eden was in her room working on her assignments when Rose knocked on the door.

"Gemma is on the line," Rose said. "She can't reach you on your phone."

"Oh," Eden looked at her phone on her bed. "I must have forgotten to charge it."

"Here," Rose smiled as he handed Eden the house phone. Eden waited until Rose was out of the room to pick up the call.